'Daubigny's Garden' by Bruno De Roover with art by Luc Cromheecke tells the story of Charles-François Daubigny in a very light and tongue in cheek style.

The framing story is about Van Gogh's visit to his doctor. The doctor tells him stories about Daubigny, but Van Gogh was influenced by Daubigny (as were other painters like Monet), and Daubigny is considered to be a precursor to the Impressionistic style. He liked to paint en plein air, and that's mostly what the book covers. It also seems to be a lot about Daubigny trying to paint and being distracted by friends, patrons, and nature. The stories are a series of letters, but I don't know if these are actual excerpts or just done in the style.

It's hard to figure out what this book is supposed to be. It's done in a very cartoony style of story and art. The reader who is new to Daubigney will not learn a lot about his work or influence. And yet, I found that I really had a good time with it. The style is tongue-in-cheek, and that's refreshing for a book about artists from this period.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I was unable to finish or fully review the book as there were formatting issues - I don't think it was a problem with the file, but with the ebook's compatibility with my Kindle for iPad app. Pages would be blank, or black, or only contain a portion of the entire page, making the book unreadable.

I found it hard to enjoy reading this book, but I really loved the artwork.

While I did not like the illustrations in this graphic novel, it was interesting to learn about Daubigny's life, as I was unfamiliar with this precursor to the Impressionist movement.

A graphic novel Charles-François Daubigny who is an important precursor of Impressionism. Targeted at audiences of all-ages probably is the reason behind the script. I admired the art (hence the 3-star rating) but the story not very much. The use of cursive font in a speech bubble also made it difficult for me to read. I had to decipher it before going on to the next panel. Might be a good choice for young children to spark their interest in art.

This graphic novel recounts snippets from the life of Charles-François Daubigny (1817-1878), a French painter considered to be the precursor of Impressionism. Unfortunately, I didn't like the art style at all - both the art and the dialogue seemed too childish and not very refined. The stories themselves were okay, some rather funny while others rather boring. Overall it was an alright graphic novel which might appeal to Daubigny's fans, but may pass as indifferent to those who are unfamiliar with the painter.

Daubigny's Garden is a charming graphic novel that would appeal to art history enthusiasts. Depicting the life and art of French artist Charles Daubigny as he inspired fellow artist Vincent Van Gogh. The book was not as biographical as I had expected, but did a nice job illustrating the artist's life and inspiration in a comedic fashion. I found the drawings to be somewhat cartoonish but loved the attention to detail. Humorous storytelling not to be missed!

A graphic biography of the proto-Impressionist. In its favour, it doesn't try to spice up what seems to have been a pleasantly uneventful sort of life - boozing, painting, boating, and various combinations of the three. And the landscapes are gorgeous. But the people, and even the animals, are drawn in a fashion suggesting an editorial cartoon or a lesser Viz strip, which for me felt like an odd fit with the mood of everything else.

(Netgalley ARC)

Vincent Van Gogh painted a series of three paintings called Daubigny's garden. Daubigny was one of Van Gogh's heroes, and one of the originators of the impressionist movement, before it even had a name. This adorable little graphic novel tells the story of Daubigny's life from his birth through to his death and how he came about his inspirations.

I enjoyed the artwork. But, the story didn't really flow for me. I wish I had a better sense of the artist, but I didn't feel the uniqueness of his life or art through this volume, unfortunately.

Never heard of Daubigny before and still don’t know much about why he’s considered a famous artist! He lived a life, painted, achieved some fame, then died. Van Gogh apparently liked him. Uninformative and uninteresting bio-comic. Bo-ring.

I'm all for a good biography from the art world, but this isn't one – it's supposed to be about a guy van Gogh looked up to, but it's done in such a trashily whimsical way, and there's so much of a disconnect between the reader and the man's art that you can finish this without a blind clue as to what he painted. Pretty much useless, however pretty (in a childish way) it might be. DNF.

I have only recently started reading graphic novels and I am particularly interested in the art of the drawings. This book was ideal in that respect as it is a beautifully drawn book about a French artist, Charles Daubigny, who was a precursor of impressionism.

The book has several little vignettes of episodes in Daubigny's life and I found the work full of depth, humour and pathos. I went from thinking what an idiot because of his attitude to money and his wife, to thinking what a dedicated artist because of his attitude to getting just the right view for the right painting.

I like the drawing style. It seems cartoonish or quickly drawn when you first look but it bears a good second glance to see all the detail and all the emotion in each little square. I also like the detail on the small drawings which introduced each separate story. We also have fleeting visits from Vincent Van Gogh who did a painting of Daubigny's Garden.

Recommended for anyone interested in French art and for young people to encourage them to see beyond manga/fantasy style when thinking about drawing.

I was given a free copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

The first thing I have to note is that the art in this book is stunning. I was instantly drawn in by the art style and the way it enhanced the story.
As for the story itself, I found it interested and an enjoyable read. Slow in parts but overall it was good.

Beautifully told and gorgeously illustrated. Just lovely.

Not for me I’m afraid. The storyline and drawing style didn’t grab me. This would probably be interesting for Daubigny fans.

I wasn't a fan of the illustrations in this novel and found the story line too episodic and disjointed. It will appeal to art history fans and fans of Daubigny.

A cute overview of the life of French painter Charles-Francois Daubigny.

Oddly Engaging

Charles Daubigny was a French painter closely associated with the Barbizon school. This graphic novel is a rather episodic recounting of his life, and most especially of various especially productive periods during his painting career. (The joke here seems to be that the book's narrative is supposed to be Van Gogh's doctor telling Van Gogh stories about Daubigny, whom Van Gogh had always greatly admired. In fact, Van Gogh once visited Daubigny's widow and one of Van Gogh's most successful paintings is of "Daubigny's Garden".)

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the book, although I suppose I expected it would be a dutifully illustrated biography. I was pleasantly surprised to find the book is much more energetic and cheerfully personable than I expected. Daubigny liked and was admired by other Barbizon painters and had a generally happy life. This version of his life, at least and as recounted here, involved a lot of eating, drinking, joking, socializing, and messing about. Cameos by other notable contemporaries, like Corot, add to the fun.

The pleasantly comic, (and deceptively expressive), illustrations, the brief and informal bits of conversation, and the general sense of a happy and accomplished man making great art was a pleasant and rather upbeat diversion and a nice find.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Daubigny's Garden is a graphic novel biographical collection of different episodes in the life of the painter Charles-François Daubigny. Despite his great influence on many great painters, I was never a great fan of his work. I found the stories a little scattered, and I was not a fan of the illustrations.

This might be enjoyed by fans of art history, or devoted Daubigny enthusiasts.